Posted on 08/01/2007 5:11:17 PM PDT by silent_jonny
As most of us already know, she passed away suddenly this week. She had been sick for quite some time, but I don’t think any of us knew exactly how sick she really was.
We’re all in shock … stunned by this …
Gretchen suffered through so much pain in her life that we can’t help but rejoice and thank God she’s now being held in the arms of her friend Jesus--her tears wiped away forever. But then we remember the friend we’ve lost and our tears still flow.
It’s fitting that we have a tribute for G here on the Dose. She was the backbone of this thread, its heart and its spirit. She posted it (often without help) for many years until recently when her health forced her to stop completely. But she never left us. She was always as close as a ping or private message, ready with a kind and reassuring word. Or just a “LOL!”
It was her hope that, once she felt better, she would resume her posting duties … That’s how dedicated she was to the Dose. That’s how much she loved her friends here.
I hope she knew how much we loved her.
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Many people find it awkard if they are given things and cannot give back whether for financial reasons or simply they do not want to give. Gretchen had that ability to enjoy and appreciate what was given her however large or small and make the giver feel that they had enriched her life in some small way.
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Certainly such a gentle, good soul as Gretchen will be so rewarded …
I’ve thought about it a lot and decided that if you could put links on tonight’s thread to the Elvis version of ‘Amazing Grace’ and Brooks & Dunn’s ‘I Believe’ that would represent my feelings perfectly.
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As we gather here tonight to remember our friend, please take a moment to pray for her son Mark. May God comfort and strengthen him at this difficult time.Click here to read Marks beautiful message about his mom. You can see Gretchen’s faith and character reflected in his words.
Please say a prayer for Gretchen’s cousin Carrie and ask that we may continue to receive updates on her progress. Lord, bless this family.
And please remember Gretchen's young friend Sabrina as well.
Julie.... I understand her strong faith too, while watching her deal with her cousin’s Carrie’s head injury. I understand the shock you are feeling, because I am feeling it too. She never complained. I just remember her computer was giving her problems once.
lol, yes it is :)
Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Amen.
In fact, I wonder if she ever did get her keyboard replaced. I thought she was not around much because she needed an ergonomic keyboard for her carpal tunnel.
Anyway, thanks for dedicating this thread to her and her post supporting FR. This thread and FR will truly miss her.
LOL!
Yeah, she did finally get a replacement. I think she said her friend Mike found an ergo board and she was happy with it. No more 6's instead of b's :)
In her last email she said that Sabrina was being taken away by Sabrina’s mother and Gretchen was very worried about Sabrina. Does any one know where Sabrina is now? I know that Gretchen would want more than anything else for Sabrina to be protected and helped. Is there anything we can do for Sabrina?
very nice tribute to a beloved FReeper. Thanks jonny.
Yes she did get a replacement keyboard - Mike her friend found one in a second hand shop for just a few dollars.
Thanks, Rob :) I appreciate it.
Sabrina is still on the apartment complex though they are in a different apartment but there are many things in her mother’s life that were worrying Gretchen about Sabrina’s long term well being.
I will send you a freepmail tomorrow Tommy with more details, what we can physically do I do not know but of course we can all pray.
The Dose was started by Rintense shortly after President Bush was inaugurated in January 2001. The earliest "Day in the life of President Bush" thread (later to affectionately become known as the Dose) I have been able to find in FR archives was posted by Rintense on February 20, 2001.
Rintense kept the Dose going five days a week by herself with only occasional help from fill-in hosts until early in 2003. Even after that point, she continued to post most of the threads, although MJY1288, ohioWfan, truthNtegrity, and Gretchen began to fill in and then take regular days as Rintense gradually cut back on her online activity. Through the years, there have been a number of temporary and regular Dose hosts, including Pippin, marsbars5665, petuniasevan, mtngrl@vrwc, onyx, Just A Nobody, as well as the current hosts, snugs, Jonny, Kaslin and myself.
The earliest Dose thread I've been able to find that Gretchen posted was this one:
A Day in the Life of President Bush (photos): 7/10/03
whitehouse.gov; yahoo.com ^ | July 10, 2003 | GretchenEE
Posted on 07/10/2003 2:47:20 PM PDT by GretchenEE"The Day of Botswana Bush" finds the United States President, his wife, and daughter, Barbara, on safari, examing the wildlife (and their mating habits) in the Mokolodi Nature Reserve in Gaborone, Botswana. He met with Botswana's President, Festus Mogae. Talks are expected to focus on boosting trade cooperation and America's contribution to Africa's battle against AIDS.
Bush met with Ford Motor Company workers in Pretoria, South Africa. The President is expected to decide within days if he will send US troops to Liberia.
As the years and Rintense's involvement passed, and we moved into President Bush's second term, behind the scenes Gretchen's natural, gentle leadership ability asserted itself, and she became the de facto leader of the small band of regular Dose hosts. Gretchen's role in keeping the Dose going all these years is second only to its founder, Rintense. Even after Gretchen could no longer post Dose threads, she maintained the ping list and helped initiate new regular hosts.
Although I no longer have a record of exactly when, sometime in late 2003 the then-regular hosts, Gretchen, ohioWfan, MJY1288 and truthNtegrity were struggling to cover their days, because Truthy was entering a period in her life when her online activity had to be curtailed. So I offered to help as a fill-in, and they asked me to do weekend threads instead, since they never had enough hosts before to do the Dose seven days a week. Although I no longer have a record of when I posted my first regular thread, it would have been early in 2004.
Throughout these years, I always found Gretchen to be the voice of calm and reassurance during those occasional times when disagreements flared up among the host team. I wanted to share with you the last example of this quality Gretchen had to calm the occasion roiling seas of emotion.
Many of you may know that earlier this year, a disaffected former FR regular started a new website called WideAwakes. He and others invited many FReepers to join them, and a number of similarly disaffected folks chose to do so. There is a bit of an edge of competitiveness with FR to that new site, and in a number of respects they essentially cloned or grafted what they viewed as the best of FR onto WA. One thing they did was copy these "Day in the life of..." threads, and call their version the "Gallery."
Now, before anyone misunderstands why I'm sharing this...please wait until Gretchen's words make my point for me. This isn't an attack on WA. They have every right to do as they please. But you may understand that those of us who have worked to keep the Dose going for so long felt hurt by seeing it ripped off by people who could still enjoy the original here.
Anyway, when the existence of the "Gallery" was called to my attention, typical "bull in the china shop" that I am, I rushed over to WA and, in an attempt to try to explain/defend our point of view here, sent a private message to the person who happened to have posted that day's "Gallery" thread. Although I acknowledged their right to do it, I also said they were hurting people who never did them any harm. One thing led to another, with the upshot that I was banned from WA. And, Irish-Italian that I am, I was both hurt and angry. I send a FReemail to Gretchen, and here is her response:
Re: Have you seen the “Gallery” over at WideAwakes?
To Wolfstar | 05/30/2007 9:24:04 AM PDT sentHi Pat,
I have seen it; a fair number of WA’rs have pinged me to it, asking me to sign up. I hardly have time for FR, let alone somewhat of a mirror site at this time. Like you, I found it stung a bit, especially [name deleted] declining our invitation twice, only to post it there. As you say, however, it is a free country. I’d add, water seeks its own level — people are going to go where they are most comfortable most of the time, unless they have a conviction that they need to tough it out in their current circumstances.
I certainly understand your feelings. For the sake of my blood pressure, I decided to take the view that more good may come out of two conservative sites presenting the president and his agenda, and let the personal stuff slide off the mountain.
Gretchen
And so, following Gretchen's lead as I had done so many times in the past, I let it go.
The Dose has lost its 2nd most important leader after Rintense. Those of us who were privileged to work along side of Gretchen to keep it going have lost a dear friend and colleague. And most importantly, we all have lost a gentle, kindhearted, dedicated person who made her particular corner of this weary world a much better place for her having passed through it.
God bless you, Gretchen. I love you and will miss you. I thank you for the life lessons you taught me. I'm glad your suffering is over and that you are at peace in a place no hurt can ever reach you again. In the fullness of time, we will all follow -- even the President we have tried, in our own small ways -- to serve.
I need to turn in now - see you all tomorrow - wonderful tribute Jonny - have sent you a regular email please let me know if you get it OK.
Eleanor
If there is, and anyone hears about how we might help, please be sure to let me know.
I've read all the comments and, even though I haven't been able to respond to everyone yet, I thank you all for your kind words and prayers.
God bless you.
Snugs, I’m going over to read it now. Will be back here, in case you are still around.
Yes, that is what Gretchen wrote. Gretchen felt terribly powerless to help Sabrina and she was so worried. Gretchen’s passing must be a dreadful blow to poor Sabrina.
I think she is only about nine or ten.
Jonny—thank you for your work today. What a lovely tribute to lovely Gretchen.
Thanks for sharing that Julie.. tickles & embraces your soul, doesn’t it?
when I was done reading it, I tried to think of one or two words to define Gretchen in light of your offerings..
the word is PEACEMAKER.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9).
You are an incredible gal, Wolfie! Thank you for all you wrote, and especially your kind remembrances of our GEM. Her “walk with God” permeated her whole being, and there’s much to be learned from her words and wisdom.
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